I. A reminder for both passive and active goodness – 1:1,2 –
In a fallen world, evil, rebellion against God and his Law, pervades every
person and every position. The doing of good, therefore, involves the peeling
away of all the layers of evil. The admonition to Christians is to avoid the
one and to insert real goodness into all their relationships.

A.Christians are to be submissive to established authority and be obedient
to their specific laws. Compare with Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:12-17

B. Their attitude should be poised
to do every good work. Bearing in mind that the Law of God defines what true
good is, Christians should be ready to encourage everything that infuses
society with this goodness—kindness, gentleness, protection of life, honesty,
sobriety, truthfulness.

C. Christians are not to fall into
the common manner of discourse in society that is filled with malicious
destructive talk. Both in speaking about people and speaking to people
Christians must not be destructive. “Speak evil of no one. Avoid quarrelling.”

D. Their manner of interaction with
each other and the people of the world (“all people”) should not be
intimidating or oppressive, but gentle. Gentleness does not mean lack of
conviction or resolution, but a spirit of deference to others and a genuine
interest in their well-being. And rather than rudeness or sarcasm even toward
those with whom we disagree on important issues, courtesy, nevertheless, should
be remarkable in the manner of interaction that we have toward them.

II. A reminder of what we once were – 3:3 – Every person
with whom we interact, even the most destitute of kindness could possibly be
one of the elect of God. When Paul was arrested in the midst of his hostile
course toward Christians and toward Christ himself, he “received mercy, . . .
that Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were
to believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:16)

A. “We ourselves” – In the spirit
of Isaiah 53 Paul knows not only from personal experience, but from the very
reason for the coming of Christ as revealed in prophecy, that “All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one of us, into his own way.” He reminded
the Ephesians of this when he wrote, “Among whom we all once lived in the
passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:3). The
universal sinfulness of mankind is an irrefutable testimony to the connection
that all humanity maintains to the sin of Adam, both for condemnation and
corruption.

B. The grip of sin on the rational
soul. Note the distressing character of the specific words in this description;

1. “Foolish” –
One must look at the pervasive biblical idea of foolishness to see the moral
devastation involved in such a word. A good place to start would be Proverbs
1:7, 20-33. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction. . . . Because they hated
knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my
counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of
their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed
by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.” Also James
1:13-18

2. “disobedient”
– Choosing one’s own way rather than the way of God’s commands is a
manifestation of foolishness. Disobedience plunged the world into its present
corruption (Romans 5:19) and continued disobedience creates a dizzying number
of individual paths to destruction.

3. “Led astray”
or “deceived”Since the first deception
of Eve (1 Tim 2:14), deception has been a part of the dynamic of the
progressive sinfulness of the race. When Satan deceived Eve, he did not find a
wicked heart to deceive. But now, the fallen race fully complies with his
deceit and exuberantly joins the parade of self-immolation, for he comes “with
all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love
the truth and so be saved.” God’s just judgment, therefore is that he “sends
them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that
all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.” This is not a condition with positive prospects, but it is
the condition of the world, and was ours before being rescued by sovereign
effectual grace.

4. “Slaves to
various passions and pleasures” – The fallen man is driven by what can pack the
most pleasure into each moment. With no savor for eternal things, all he has is
temporal. And, with the exception of some moments in which he may want some
quiet and calm, he finds boring those days, or even moments, that are absent of
something scintillating, sensational, and provocative. Peter gives a graphic
narrative of the world’s feverish insistence on the pursuit of passions and pleasures in 1 Peter 4:2-5. The
word for “pleasures” is the word from which we derive the word “hedonism.” Like
the other descriptive words in this passage, these manifestations of sin bring
with them their own judgment from God. If this slavery does not yield the fruit
of pleasure-seeking, it nevertheless establishes a consistent self-centeredness
that does not seek God and his glory.

5. Malice and envy
are the natural outflow of a life given over to the quest for personal
advancement. Others cannot be allowed to interrupt our plans and so our slavery
results in aggressive resistance to others, wishing them ill and jealous of
their success.

6. The word for
“hateful” is a verbal form that seems to carry either active or passive
overtones. Perhaps something like “oppressed with hatred” would capture the
idea. Oppressed by others, that is “being hated,” or seething with hate so that
hatefulness affects one’s view of other people. This idea leads to a reciprocal
relationship of hate, “hating one another.” Our relationships with each other
provide quite the contrast to the redemptive work of God.

.

III. A Reminder of the Freeness of Divine Mercy- 3:4-7

A. But – The contrast is
purposeful. The reciprocity of hatred in human society contrasted with the
unmerited favor of God toward sinners is striking.

B.This movement of redemption toward man arises from the “goodness” of
God. God is merciful because he is good. He also is just because he is
good.Goodness is intrinsic to God; it
is the word used in Romans 2:4, “riches of his goodness” – his goodness can be
presumed upon and sinners think that God will not manifest his wrath. But his
goodness demands it. His goodness, however, leads also to a purposeful display
of love to man [philanthropia]lovingkindness, Men hate one another, but God,
overflowing with goodness, places a transforming love, a purposefully exhibited
act of grace for the eternal benefit of sinful men.

C. “God our Savior”-When
we follow the pronouns we see clearly that this refers to God the Father as
“our savior.” 1 Timothy1:1 also calls God, “our savior,’ when it is a clear
reference to God the Father. Ephesians 1 has many verbs that predicate the
things done by God the Father for salvation—blessed us, chose us, predestined
us, blessed us in the Beloved, he lavished upon us, he made known to us, his
purpose, he set forth. Now here we see this same truth. We must not forget the
absolute unity of the triune God in saving sinners. The operation of grace in
Father, Son, and Spirit are quite clear in this passage and the separate
personhood but divine activity of each person is emphasized. The specific
activity is a fitting expression of, and in a sense determined by, the eternal
immanent relations of the triune God.

D. “Appeared” – The appearance of
the goodness and philanthropy of God clearly finds personification in Jesus
Christ. 2:11 “The grace of God has appeared” and we now wait for another
appearing. On the first occasion, when Christ as the manifestation of the
Father’s saving purpose appeared, we learn from that event that how it
manifests the necessity of unaided unilateral action on God’s part to bring
about this salvation.

1. Negatively –
Not because of works done by us in righteousness. Had we done works of true
righteousness, then they would have their reward, but the truth is we have done
no acts of righteousness, nothing that matches the plumbline of the Law, See
Romans 3:19, 20 All we reap from the law in the context of our own doing of it
is condemnation. Every blessing that comes to sinners in salvation is indeed
connected with promises made for perfect obedience to the Law. None of that
obedience, however, is ours properly, but is in another. Our doing accomplishes
no righteousness, for all that we do is infused with sin, both as unregenerate
and regenerate. The regenerate mortify the flesh in increasing measure and bear
the fruit of the new birth in increasing measure, but there is the ever-present
opposition and discoloration of the flesh putting forth its desires against the
Spirit. Neither before nor after the new birth, therefore, do we do works of
righteousness to which the reward of eternal life could be attached.

2. “But
according to his own mercy” - The benefits, therefore, that accrue to us, come
not from wages for performance accomplished by us, but are applied to us on the
basis of pure mercy. Mercy is that manifestation of the goodness of God in
which he spares the lawbreaker the promised execution of wrath. He does this,
moreover, not by any violation of his justice in which every misdeed receives
the just recompense of punishment, but according to a plan in which his justice
is maintained and displayed in breathtaking and inexhaustibly rich
manifestations. In addition, the supplies of all that is needed for eternal
life hereafter and holiness here come through this channel of mercy. Look at
Paul’s delineation of this.

·The washing of regeneration and renewal of the
Holy Spirit – These are two separate works of the Holy Spirit but the latter
continues in the same character and power of the first. Paul has moved
immediately to a statement as to how this mercy is first experienced in the
life of the sinner. The effect of the new birth often draws on the analogy of a
cleansing power, the powerful impact of the effectual operation of the Spirit
on the soul in light of the truth of the word. (See Ephesians 5:26; John 3:5;
James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:22, 23) Regeneration has the effect of repressing the
flesh, greatly altering the affections. This constitutes a new principle of
choice so that God is more and more loved and his truth is embraced. Having
changed the weight of the moral dynamic in the soul of man in regeneration, the
Spirit now brings to light carnal commitments and patterns of life that must
undergo transformation. This change reflects the covenantal commitment of the
Holy Spirit in saving those given by the Father to the Son for his atoning
work, and likewise, to the Spirit for his regenerating and sanctifying work.
All that are regenerated will as certainly be renewed by the Spirit “And we all
with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the
Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

·“Whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus
Christ our Savior” – This “rich” pouring out of the Spirit occurred initially
at Pentecost. The Spirit was active in the same work of regeneration,
sanctifying, indwelling, giving perseverance prior to Pentecost, but his
operations increased at Pentecost and subsequent to it. The qualitative work of
the Spirit was the same; the great expansion of power characterized these
latter days. According to the New Covenant, the people of God are now
identified by the work of the Spirit instead of continuity of a fleshly
relationship and mark (Philippians 3:3; Ezekiel 36:22-27). This work of the
Spirit is heightened and more pronounced since The Messianic work of redemption
has been accomplished [Hebrews 9:14-16], the Scriptures explaining this entire
phenomenon were being inspired and made operative as truth in the lives of the
elect [John 14:25, 26], and spiritual gifting that perpetuates the sustaining
of the church in its work in the world [1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:3, 4,
10-12). But not only is the entire age characterized by this rich and abundant
pouring out of the Spirit, the individuals that are so drawn receive their own
portion of that operation of grace – “God’s love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5).

·The Father poured out the Spirit, but did this
through Jesus Christ. This relationship shows not only the order of the mission
of redemption in the world, but the peculiar personal distinctives in the
eternal internal relationship. In redemption, the coming of the Spirit in such
power awaited the completed work of the Son. Prior to the completion of the
redemptive work of Christ, none could be saved and persevere in faith without
the saving work of the Spirit. Pre-Pentecost saints were regenerated, sealed
and indwelt even as post-Pentecost saints were. Without those works of the
Spirit salvation is a moral impossibility. Their faith, the result of the
Spirit’s work was placed purely on Christ and his completed work, yet to be
done; but subsequent to the completion, the Spirit’s operations increased in
abundance and became the mark of God’s people including the Gentiles.

·Note also, that here Jesus Christ is called “our
savior” as God the Father was earlier in the passage (4). There is a moral
congruity and necessity as well as personally fit element in the different
phases of salvation effected by the work of the trinity in each person as well
as a participatory aspect of all persons in each element.

·“So that having been justified by his grace.”
Not only is the changed heart, affections newly given over to God instead of
the world, morally necessary for salvation, but also a complete blamelessness
in relation to the law. Jesus Christ is the source of this and he is given us
by the grace of God. The meritorious ground of salvation is the perfect
obedience and substitutionary dying of Christ so that those that are united with
him by the grace of God are justly declared forgiven, not guilty, and acceptably
righteous. Paul is so focused on the divine provision and action in all of this
that he does not even point to faith, but to grace, as the source of
justification. Grace provided it objectively, and grace effected it
experientially.

·All of this work was done that sinners might
have the reality of eternal life—life in the presence of this triune God that
has condescended so amazingly to bring fallen creatures into the orb of his
eternal glory, love, and joy. They will exist to the praise of his glory and be
filled with the vision of his eternal glory (Ephesians 1:12; John 17:24), they
will swim forever in eternal love (John 17:23, 26), and nothing will interrupt
or retard their joy (John 15:11, 1 John 1:4, Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 25:21, 23)
This hope of eternal life inflames the heart of the Christian for the pure
goodness of eternity before God and purifies the entire person for that purpose
(1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 John 3:3)

·All of this is the “faith of God’s elect” and
their embracing it with mind and heart is their “knowledge of the truth.” This
constitutes the “sound doctrine” to which the overseer must give attention in
his instruction.

IV. Another Admonition – 1:8, 9

A. The exposition just given is
trustworthy, that is, true in content and worthy of commitment and
transformation of life. A person may build his life and his hope for eternity
around the truths just expounded.

B. Titus, therefore, must insist on
teaching these things. He does not have the prerogative of presenting a
self-made message. To this message he is called for this message glorifies God,
abases the sinner for the purpose of sincere repentance, produces holiness,
and, thus, gives a steadfast hope of eternal life.

C. Paul continued the emphasis on
good works (1:16; 2:7, 14; 3:4, 14). Although we are not justified by good
works, it is only the love of good works that drives the sinner to Christ and
his good works for salvation. Then those so converted pursue that same goodness
in their works that they have so cherished in Christ. The one that believes in
God, in this triune God who saves sinners, must take special care to devote
himself to good works.

D. That pursuit, for that reason,
is excellent. It has an intrinsic quality of beauty and proportion and enduring
virtue in it. It is also profitable—profitable here in that it inevitably
manifests itself in a love of neighbor and actions of mercy and compassion, and
profitable hereafter by placing eternity before the heart as the goal of this
present life.

E. Avoid all the religious
mumbo-jumbo that seeks to derail the pure preaching of the gospel of the grace
of God. Anything that seeks to bring in a substitute for the pure and wholesome
doctrine of divine righteousness, holiness and grace that issues in the
salvation of sinners by forgiveness of sins, justification, sanctification, and
eternal life must be avoided as unprofitable. Discussion on such speculative,
and false, ideas leads only to confusion. Speculative nonsense substitutes
itself for the true substance of salvation that is in Christ alone. Even the
Law, which is a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, is used, to create a path
away from Christ and back to human contrivance.

V. Isolation of a Trouble-maker – 10, 11The person that stirs up division, such as
the deceivers described in chapter one, must be admonished, warned, once and
then twice. After that, they demonstrate that they have no interest in the
truth but only in a following. They must not be tolerated in the body of the
church for they will cause departures from revealed truth for the sake of
personal advantage. He is self-condemned in that his insistence on his own
brand of teaching has shown that he does not know the truth, and is ready to
oppose it. He must therefore, not be allowed an audience in the church but must
be removed—“Have nothing more to do with him.”

VI. Personal matters and a reiteration of admonition – 12-15

A. The coming and going of people

1. Paul will
send Artemas and Tychicus to relieve Titus, so that Titus can meet Paul at
Nicolopis, perhaps to strategize for the evangelization of Dalmatia., as seems
to have been accomplished according to 2 Timothy 4:10. We know nothing else of
Artemas but have several references to Tychicus as an effective worker with
Paul (Col. 4:7-9; Ephesians 6:21, 22; 2 Timothy 4:12)

2. Zenas and
Apollos – These two men were probably bearers of this letter to Titus. Zenas,
as a lawyer [nomikon], was perhaps a Christian that had been well-schooled in
Jewish law. That Apollos would be a bearer of this letter for Paul shows that
they both knew that they worked together as fellow laborers in the interests of
the gospel and for the glory of Christ (See Acts 18:24-19:1; 1 Corinthians
1:12; 2:4-6, 21-23)

B. Christianity’s power of social
transformation – Conversion leads to good works, good works necessarily involve
love of the brethren and expanding of that principle in love of neighbor. In
this way, Christians met the needs of their fellow Christians, were able also
to shows kindness to the needy lost around them. In addition they became
fruitful in their lives so as to be productive instead of destructive. (Compare
Ephesians 4:17-32) Through these acts of goodness, through moral uprightness,
through personal trustworthiness and positively productive lives, Christians
overcame the hostility of their enemies in the first three centuries and were
the chief transforming factor in the remaking of western society.

C. While Paul recognized that many
enemies were around and many that were looking for some way to ridicule
Christians and what they belied, he relished the fellowship of believers and
the love of those that shared the true faith of Jesus Christ. Opponents
desiring something bad to say (2:8) will be silenced, but there are also those
that “love us in the faith.” This is a great grace indeed, that while some hate
us for the faith, others love us in the faith. Either way, grace is the cause.
“Grace be with you all.”